On my trip to Disneyland last week I had the opportunity to try it out the Disney Genie. It worked out really well!
The Genie can do so many things. It gives you suggestions of where to go next and what to do, so acts kind of like a virtual tour guide. It has an option where you can learn more about certain features you come across as well.
Disney World and Disneyland work a little differently.
First, you have the base Disney Genie. You can access this through the Disneyland app or the My Disney Experience app for Walt Disney Wolrd. This base service is free for everyone. The Disney Genie service will maximize your Park time, so you can have more fun. It will provide:
- Personalized itinerary creator with continuing updates throughout your day.
- Real-time tip board with estimated and forecasted future wait times
- Dining reservations and mobile food and beverage ordering.
Don’t forget to set your preferences PRIOR to arriving at the park. Once you are in the park, you’ll be too busy to worry about that.
The Genie +
Disneyland offers this upgrade for $25 per person per day. This gives you unlimited lightning lane passes for most rides. It also gives you unlimited photopass. This worked out for us wonderfully! We never waited more than 15 minutes for anything, and even that amount of time was rare.
For WDW, the upgrade is $15 per pers per day. You can purchase it ahead of time for your whole package, or purchase it each morning on just the days you want to use it. As of now, the general concensus is that it may not be needed when visiting Animal Kingdom or Epcot, but purchasing it ahead of time for your whole package is a convenience. You do not get the photopass with the WDW version of this service.
With the Genie + you will also gain access to autmented reality lenses (imagine taking a selfie with Mickey or Minnie in front of the castle), as well as behind the scenes audio experiences.
Lightning Lane +
You may notice that not though most are, not ALL rides are available through the Genie +. That is because there is the Lightning Lane + for a few select high demand rides that you pay a separate fee for if you want to bypass the line. This is typically limited to two rides per park. The prices for these were resonable as well. It was $12 each for Spiderman Webslingers and Radiator Springs Racers. The price varies a bit based on park capacity and availability, but usually ranges between $7-15. The same goes for these options at WDW.
Extra Tips
We also had a couple times where a ride we had a pass for would break down. If this happens you get a new pass that can be used on ALMOST any ride (see the photos for an example of what you can’t use it on).
The best feature of the Disneyland Genie is that it gives you unlimited photo pass. This alone is worth the cost! Any time you see a photographer in the parks, stop and get your picture! And be sure to get the codes for your ride photos, you can add those as well (we took a picture of the code on the screen and added them later). At Disney World, photo pass is $169 if you purchase it prior to your trip, and is not included with any of the Disney Genie purchases.
Park hopping is easy with the Disney Genie. You scroll to the bottom and select “Plan for Your Next Park.” Switch the chosen park, and it will allow you to select what time to switch. Once it has switched, you can choose rides in the new park to set up a lightning lane for.
I haven’t had the chance to personally use it at Disney World yet, but based on what other clients and agents have said, I can see it not being worth the cost for certain parks potentially (the WDW version cannot be pre purchased anymore – see below). But as far as Disneyland goes, you can add it to the price of your package, and it’s well worth the cost, EVERY TIME!
If you already have the Disney Genie added to your package, you may still have questions. You are welcome to ask me to clarify anything you’re unsure about. If you don’t have it added to your Disney vacation already, ask me how to add the Disney Genie to your trip and I’ll tell you more!
Update 06/01/22
This change applies to Walt Disney World in Florida only at this time:
Best Day Ever Journeys 
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